FTC: It Takes Criminals Just 9 Minutes to Use Stolen Consumer Info

Federal Trade Commission experiment lured hackers to learn about how they use stolen consumer information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s Office of Technology conducted an experiment to learn how hackers use stolen information. Experts created a database of fake consumer credentials and posted them twice on a site that hackers use to make stolen data public.

This false information was made realistic by using popular names based on Census data, US-based addresses and phone numbers, common email address naming strategies, and one of three types of payment info (online payment service, bitcoin wallet, and credit card). Following the second posting of fake data, it took hackers just nine minutes to try and access it.

There were more than 1,200 attempts to access the information, which hackers tried to use to pay for things like food, clothing, games, and online dating memberships. The FTC advises consumers to stay safe with two-factor authentication, which prevented the thieves from gaining access.

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No, I don't think so. I think what the piece is trying to communicate is that once they had already accessed the information, they took mere minutes to use the compromised information. The 9-minute figure has nothing to do with the breach itself.

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